Path of Spirit (Disgardium Book #6): LitRPG Series, Dan Sugralinov [the reader ebook .TXT] 📗

found Depths Teleportation and then realized that Kharinza was blocked out of the sandbox’s location list. That was it. A jump, then you showed up and took Mogwai away, I died and revived back in Tristad. Tell me, how is that my fault?”

You abandoned us for a beautiful life on the Amazons’ island, that’s how! You got tangled up with Liam who used you like a doormat, and now we’re expecting an attack on Kharinza any second, I nearly shouted at her, but bit my tongue. Instead, I spoke dryly:

“Promise this won’t happen again.”

“Of course it won’t! Do you think I’m a moron? You think I went crazy and betrayed my best friends? You should see what the boys wrote to me! They want to kill me! I had to switch off my comm!”

Poor thing, having to switch off your comm… Strange that you still think we’re friends. Keep your mouth shut, Melissa. You’re a ‘subcitizen,’ if you remember our code. If you want rewards, then you better keep quiet.

I ended the connection before I said something I regretted. I’d let anger get the better of me, after I’d wanted so badly to be cold. Her betrayal just got to me. Even Hairo and Roj could hear my teeth grinding as they stood tactfully off to one side. At least there was good news; if Tissa wasn’t lying, then Mogwai’s only remaining path was by sea. And we had a friendly beast god hanging out in that sea. Even if he couldn’t kill the Supreme Legate, he could at least slow him down. Then any of us could portal in and take Mogwai off to a cell. As long as the goblins had it ready in time.

Immersed in thought, I walked to the bodyguards, seeing nothing and nobody. I only came round when Hairo ran over to me and knocked me off my feet, covering me with his body and shouting code phrases into the radio with the names Willy, Yoshi and Sergei. Only then did I hear the noise of a landing flyer. The cabin door opened with a sigh.

“Hey, big guy, are you Hairo?” said a nonchalant male voice from within.

I heard people walking toward us. Hairo rose, keeping me behind him. I didn’t rush to get up. With a quiet buzz, the plasma gun in his hand charged.

“No need to be so alarmed. We’re all friends here,” the same voice said.

Roj helped me up and I saw three men. The one in the middle, with the nonchalant voice, was short and round, with a curly black-gray beard down to his chest. A snow-white vest bared his broad shoulders and a gold chain near big enough for an anchor hung round his neck. The dumb thought flashed into my head that if you threw the guy into water, all that weight in gold would drag him to the bottom. Two beefy bodyguards with machine guns towered over him like giants over Gruzelix.

“All our friends are home,” Hairo muttered and suddenly lowered his gun, brightening up. A note of respect entered his voice. “Don Aranzabal, if I’m not mistaken?”

“Call me Diego,” the man answered, turning and speaking to his companions in satisfied tones: “Nice to do business with civilized people. They know who the boss is here.”

The bodyguards nodded. Diego Aranzabal… I’d heard that name somewhere before. Rising, I stood behind Hairo.

“Of course we know you, Don Aranzabal,” Hairo said respectfully, almost bowing. If he’d had a tail, he’d have wagged it.

It was like he was another man. Where was our sour old veteran? Even his pose had changed, as if he was smaller, cringing, his head drawn into his shoulders, trying not to loom over this uninvited guest.

“Who’s this kid?” The man’s eyes peered at me out of his puffy face. “Who are you?”

I didn’t answer. One of his companions aimed his machine gun at me and growled:

“Answer when Don Aranzabal asks you a question.”

Voices like that belonged only on demons from the Inferno, I thought.

“Diego, this is my nephew Alejandro. The lord punished him; the boy was born dumb. Forgive him for this flaw,” Hairo spread his hands in guilt, then quietly whispered: “Roj, take him away.”

The bodyguard had already gotten the message. Grabbing me painfully by the shoulder and keeping himself between me and the arrivals, he led me to the door into the building. Turrets emerged from the roof and turned with a whir to aim at the uninvited guests. Hairo continued fawning:

“We don’t want any trouble, respected Diego. We’re running a little business here that wants no outside attention. But we’re willing to do our part for the good of Cali. Just say how much and who to, and we’ll be sure to…”

The door slid shut behind us. We went down to my floor, and I finally remembered where I’d heard the name Diego Aranzabal. Manny told me about him that day when the infected miner attacked me. That was right after the escape from the Modus castle. Aranzabal was that same gang leader who kidnapped citizen children. That same womanizer whose palace and harem were the envy of Bomber.

“What’s up with him?” I asked Roj in confusion. “That Diego is a criminal! Why is Hairo so subservient to him?”

“A tactical maneuver,” the bodyguard answered impassively. “We had to get you away from the center of attention.”

“He was very convincing.”

“Experience,” the bodyguard shrugged. “It’s always the way in the army — there’s always someone above your rank.”

I couldn’t log into Dis until I found out what Aranzabal wanted. I sat with Roj and Maria until both security officers appeared. Sergei and Yoshi came in behind them. I jumped up from the couch to meet them, but Hairo spoke first:

“Diego wants twenty thousand a month. If you’ve found money for the building, you can find it